MERCED, Calif. - The Bobcats snapped Simpson's five-game win streak tonight as they fell 78-62. 

Back-to-back buckets by Nikki Thompson put Simpson on the board but the Bobcats dominated the first quarter of play as they outscored Simpson 27-10. 

Simpson bounced back in the second quarter as they reeled off seven straight points to open the second quarter on a three-pointer by Anna Marshall followed by two straight layups by Thompson to pull Simpson within 10. 

UC Merced grew its largest lead of the first half to 22 points before the Red Hawks went on a 9-1 run to close out the half trailing 42-28. 

Back-to-back buckets by Cerina Nguyen opened the second-half scoring for the Red Hawks as they trailed 46-32. 

Nguyen and Thompson led the Red Hawks with four points each in the third quarter with Tessa Kinney adding two points. 

The Bobcats extended its largest lead of the night to 24 points before Thompson closed out the third quarter with a layup. 

The Red Hawks did not go quietly as they clawed back and pulled within six points as they reeled off 10 unanswered points on buckets by Marshall, Nguyen, and Thompson. 

However, the Bobcats flipped the script and closed out the game with 10 straight points to take the 78-62 victory. 

Thompson had a big night with a team-high 23 points to go along with six rebounds. 

Nguyen posted 14 points and four rebounds followed by a near double-double performance by Marshall as she notched nine rebounds and 13 points. 

Simpson has already punched its playoff ticket, but with the loss they sit two games behind UC Merced for the top spot as they remain in second place with the tiebreaker over La Sierra. 

The Red Hawks look to hit the road this week to take on Westcliff on Thursday at 7:30 pm. 
 

Be sure to stay up to date and follow us at @simpsonredhawks on Instagram, Facebook, and X.